Trainwreck
by PandaPjays
Summary: Stuck with their own thoughts on the train to the World Championships, the Bladebreakers will do anything to escape from the tedium of travel. Even if that means considering the merits of biro-murder and discussing the evils of train travel. Implied JoRe


Not one hundred percent sure where this came from. Think of it as a bit of a character study set in the first season on the train they take to get to the world championships.

Just for reference, because I suck at trying to accurately portray a thirteen year old's thoughts and feelings (I can remember there being a lot of drama but that's about it XD I'm gettin' old), I've bumped up all of their ages a few years despite this being set very definitely in the first season.

So Kai and Rei are around the 16/17 mark and Tyson and Max are hovering around 15. Cool? Cool.

Also, a shameless plug: You should totally go check out the **Beyblade Community Project** and join in with the fun and the madness that it entails.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope if you're travelling for the holidays it doesn't involve going anywhere _near_ trains. Personally, I've got a six hour car trip to look forward to.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own. Just play.

**Warnings: **Implied JoRe. Somewhat angsty reflecting and musings. Also a healthy bit of hatred for trains.

* * *

Every now and again, Kai liked to play games with himself. He liked to try to trick himself into believing that if he closed his eyes just for a few seconds, nothing too excessive, that his surroundings would disappear and leave him in a world filled with peace.

Well, peace and a few sweet-ass things he could burn. He wasn't the master of a phoenix for nothing.

Alas, every time he closed his eyes and concentrated hard on blocking out the world, first dismissing Tyson's brash voice, then Max and Kenny's laughter, then, finally, the background noise of the train. He didn't need to block out Rei's voice; Rei had been quiet since they had left Robert's castle on their way to Moscow.

But it was Rei that was destroying his illusion of a perfect world with things made of chemicals that turned flames interesting colours when they burnt. If Kai were the type to believe in the hokum so-called psychics peddled, he would have said that it was Rei's aura that was disturbing his fantasy world. Rei hadn't said much since they had gotten on to the train, just settled himself down next to the window and rested his head on his hand as he stared outside. But the air around him felt... heavier. That was the only way Kai could describe it.

The others hadn't noticed. They were too excited about going to the World Championships and too busy reminiscing about their recent victory over the Majestics.

But Rei was messing up Kai's game. He was ruining that special place Kai could trick himself into going to whenever he closed his eyes. It was annoying as all hell. If Rei had issues he could at least have the decency of working them out when Kai didn't desperately need to escape. They were going to be stuck on the train for over a day while it made its slow way from Germany to Russia. It hadn't even been three hours and already Kai was debating the wisdom of only having one compartment for the five of them.

Not that they'd really had a choice. They'd used most of the BBA's sponsorship money on their adventures around the world and on Tyson's food intake. If they'd had the choice, they would have flown to Moscow and Kai wouldn't be seriously considering weaponising the ballpoint pen he'd stolen from the immigration official.

He couldn't decide if it would be preferable to stab Tyson (risking merely injuring him enough to ensure constant complaints for the rest of their journey) or to cut out the middle man and simply stab his own ear drums.

A small frown of annoyance crossed his features when Max's voice filtered back into his brain. The blonde had launched into a long and involved tale about his father, pancakes and a really angry taxi driver.

Perhaps it really would just be easier to deafen himself. Otherwise he might end up arriving in Moscow guilty of triple homicide. Quadruple homicide if Rei didn't get over whatever funk he had sunk into.

Kai had to admit that it was probably not his team that had set him on the dark paths of murder-by-biro. He'd gotten used to their antics over the past year. Sometimes he even appreciated them. The rest of the time... well there was a reason he'd created his perfect world where the only person of importance was Kai himself. But they weren't the reason he was feeling so edgy. Kai wasn't looking forward to going back to Russia.

He couldn't remember much of his childhood and had never thought much of it. How many people had clear and detailed memories of when they were young children anyway? It was only recently, listening to his teammate's recollections of their own childhoods that he'd realised that he had forgotten a lot more than the average person.

His first memory came from when he was eight or nine and it wasn't exactly a coherent or a pleasant one.

He could remember running. He could remember running with the breath burning in his lungs, not because he was out of breath but because the air itself was _burning_. He could remember the fear that gripped his heart as he ran.

But he couldn't remember what he was running from. Only the desperate need to get away.

He could also remember how his grandfather had found him hours later, curled up against a tree that had died decades ago and almost frozen to death. He had escaped the burning air only to suffer from the other extreme.

Kai had been sent to Japan within the week.

Now he was coming— home? He didn't know whether he should refer to Russia as his home. Intellectually he knew that he had actually spent the majority of his life in the country but... shouldn't one remember their home? Shouldn't coming home be accompanied with feelings of relief and joy?

Japan was his home. Russia was... the place he had never had reason to visit. If his grandfather wanted to see him he had simply visited Kai in Japan. Kai had been looked after by a succession of tutors and nannies before his Grandfather had deemed (when Kai was eleven) that he was mature enough to look after himself.

Kai had promptly responded by forming the Blade Sharks and giving society as a whole a resounding _Fuck You_.

He was eleven. You expected him to act with maturity?

All things considered, he was lucky to be where he was. He was lucky that he had the opportunity to debate the relative advantages and disadvantages of murder or self harm. He was lucky that—

Kai looked over at Rei, his eyes narrowing in annoyance. He'd almost wasted a full ten minutes with useless introspection. And then stupid, moody, wistfully-staring Rei had to let the _entire_ world know how depressed he was feeling with a heartfelt sigh.

The _nerve _of some people.

If Kai had actually cared about Rei's problems he would have asked why he had been staring glumly at the window for the past three hours (and ten minutes). As it was, Kai folded his arms and sunk deeper into his seat, wondering idly if it were possible to melt a small hole in the chair opposite him using only the power of his glare.

"Kaai!" Tyson waved a hand in front of Kai's eyes. "Max, the Chief and I are going to go hunt out the foodage options. Want to come with?"

Kai chose not to answer, instead simply fixing Tyson with a _look_. He had grown accustomed to his team to the point of sometimes even enjoying their presence but there were limits. Normally Tyson understood the limits and, while not leaving Kai completely alone as often as Kai would have liked, respected them.

Apparently Tyson still hadn't gotten over their team bonding moment. It was a shame because Kai most emphatically had.

"Geez, sorry for messing with your bubble, Sourpuss," Tyson said, holding up his hands in surrender. "When your stomach eats itself in desperation don't coming crying to me, okay?"

Kai let out an audible sigh as the younger trio left. That was one annoyance gone. Now there was only...

Rei. Rei and his annoyingly dark and gloomy aura of depression.

So Kai did what any rational person in his situation would do. He elbowed Rei. Hard. In the kidneys. "Cut it out," he ordered, frustration evident in his voice.

Rei yelped and tried to get away from Kai, pressing himself impossibly close to the window. "Ow! Kai! What was that for?"

Kai considered and quickly dismissed the honest answer of 'you're ruining my special happy time'. He had a feeling Rei wouldn't take the explanation in the spirit it had been given, namely, the spirit of I-will-not-hesitate-to-_take_-that-kidney. Instead, he went with the more cryptic "You're moping. It's annoying."

Rei stared at Kai for a second, gauging how serious he was. "No 'What's wrong, Rei?' or 'are you okay?'" he asked.

"If you want someone to care go to Tyson. If you want someone to maybe give you a bit of helpful advice go to Max. I just want you to stop." Kai said dispassionately. "It's a long train ride and you moping like a teenage girl isn't helping my mood."

"_Nothing_ helps your mood, Kai," Rei snapped standing and storming out of the compartments, somewhat ruining the effect by tripping over Kai's legs as he stepped over them.

Kai sighed as the door slammed, mentally pushing aside the niggling feeling that he should feel guilty for Rei's outburst. He closed his eyes, allowing the calming, consistent noise of the train lull him into his place of peace.

It was going to be a long trip.

-o-

Rei bit back a few choice curse words. While it would have been satisfying to call Kai out on his assholic nature, Rei was acutely aware of an older lady who was walking down the aisle between all of the compartments. She was eyeing him warily as she edged past him as quickly as possible.

Rei realised, dimly, that him slamming the door and standing outside it seething probably wasn't the most reassuring of sights. He sighed and tucked his hands in his pockets. It wasn't like he should have expected any kind of sympathy from Kai. He'd let them know time and again that he wasn't interested in being part of their team. It was frustrating but predictable.

And it wasn't like he was wrong. Rei needed to snap out of his funk. He really was acting like a teenage girl in more ways than Kai realised. And he was _not_ happy about it. And it was all Johnny's fault.

Johnny and his stupid cocky grin and his stupid eyes that glinted like the world they saw was telling a joke he already knew the punch line to. Johnny with his incredibly vivid hair and lips softer than anything Rei could have dreamed of.

Rei growled under his breath and stalked down the aisle, not really caring where he was going. He just needed to walk. He needed to get away from that hopeless, moony feeling he got whenever he thought about the redhead. He wasn't some teenage girl sitting in her room filled with far too many frills and stuffed animals. He was _Rei Kon:_ champion beyblader, master of a Goddamn tiger and general badass.

He was better than this.

And yet still his mind couldn't help but worry over the Scotsman. It was like a train wreck in that he couldn't look away.

Really, he should have known better. He should have known not to go wandering on the first night they stayed at Robert's castle. After hearing about Tyson's experience with the place's booby traps he should have been smart enough to stay in the room Robert had given the Blade Breakers to share. He should have spent his sleepless night simply staring at the ceiling instead of leaving the room to explore.

When he had seen the firelight and heard the movements of another sleepless person he should have ignored them and returned to his room.

He hadn't.

Instead, he had let curiosity get the better of him. Like an _idiot_.

When he had seen Johnny lounging on that couch he should have left. Out of all of the Majestics why did it have to be _him_? The rest of the team were arrogant pricks, to be sure, but _Johnny_? He had seemed to take an almost unnatural joy from taking Kai down. He was cruel in his arrogance and Kai had paid for that.

And still Rei hadn't left. Instead, he dithered at the doorway until the redhead looked up, blinking when he saw Rei. "Why are you here?" he asked, still with that cocky edge to his voice but with the dull overtone of a person up well past their bedtime.

Rei shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. You?"

Johnny gestured to the chessboard in front of him. "Working out how to crush Robert the next time we play. Know anything about chess?"

"Nothing. Kai taught me how the pieces move but I've never been brave enough to play a game against him."

Johnny nodded, his purple eyes narrowing as he considered Rei. "Seeing as you know just about as much as me, would you like to help me? I wasn't smart enough to refuse challenging an expert."

Despite himself, Rei had smiled. "I'm sensing that's a common problem for you."

Johnny's eyes narrowed before a smirk crossed his features. "You're talking about Kai? _Hardly_ an expert. His skills are elementary at best."

"He'll take you down, you know. Either that or he'll kill himself trying," Rei said offhandedly, walking further into the room.

"I hope he's got some money put aside for the funeral then," Johnny said dismissively. "Now are we going to talk chess or am I going to have to write you off as being of the same caste as your arrogant upstart teammates?"

Even if only out of loyalty to his teammates, Rei should have left then. He hadn't. Instead, he sat beside Johnny and let himself be drawn into conversation about a game he knew nothing about. He had let the conversation abandon the safe topic of chess and meander into more personal areas.

He had then proceeded to let Johnny's hands and incredibly talented lips meander into more personal areas.

He wasn't proud. He knew that his actions, if anyone ever found out, would be viewed not only as a betrayal to Kai (not that his captain would really have put much stock in such a betrayal) but also the team as a whole. On the very day of Johnny's mean spirited and cruel take down of Kai, Rei had gone and done _that_.

And it hadn't been just that night. Every night they had stayed at Robert's castle Rei had found himself waiting until his team had fallen asleep before getting up and making his way to that room with the fireplace. Every night he had found Johnny there, either contemplating his chess problem or with a token book from Robert's library. Every night he had smiled when Johnny's eyes had looked up from whatever activity he'd been distracting himself with.

And every night he had returned Johnny's smirk before abandoning any thought of the way he was hurting his team. It didn't matter. Not in that room. Not with the only thing that was privy to their secret was the crackling fire.

Johnny had never said anything to Rei outside of that room and Rei had followed suit. He wasn't sure if it was out of a sense of shame or because he simply wanted to savour the time he had spent with Johnny. There were some things it was just easier to keep secret from himself.

But when it had come time for the Blade Breakers to leave and continue their journey to the World Championships Johnny had continued to remain silent.

And now Rei felt like a teenage girl obsessing over a guy she had hooked up with at a party. _Will he call? Did it mean anything? Should I write it off as a terrible, if enjoyable, mistake?_

All of these thoughts kept whirling around his head as he stalked down the train aisle and he _resented _them. He resented that he couldn't get Johnny out of his head and he most definitely resented that it was affecting him so much _Kai_ had commented.

_And_ been an arse about it.

He looked up as he moved from the closed-in atmosphere of the passenger carriages and into the open, lighter-feeling dining cart.

"Rei! Over here!" Tyson waved an arm invitingly from the table they'd managed to commandeer.

Rei forced himself to smile in acknowledgement and make his way over to his younger team mates. _They_ hadn't noticed his foul mood. "What's up, guys?" he asked, sliding into the bench beside Max. "Is the food good?"

He had to act normally. His team could never find out about what had happened with Johnny. So he had to smile and make small talk and pretend that he was still Rei Kon, resident badass and all-around nice guy.

But with thoughts of Johnny distracting him he knew that it would be a long trip.

-o-

Sometimes Max wished he was a superhero.

He didn't wish it because of some stupid desire to wear an impractical costume or out of a need for an entire city to look up to him as their saviour. If he could be a _secret_ kind of superhero that would be good. He'd be okay with that.

Because then it would mean that he had the power to defend others and not just himself.

Because that's what superheroes did, wasn't it? That was what made them heroes. They had the ability to look after other people and, judging by the longevity and the repeated reincarnations of many of the most famous ones, they didn't do too shabby a job of protecting themselves either.

Max wished he could be like that. He wished that he had the time and energy to protect the people around him.

But he couldn't.

So he smiled and tried to engage Rei in conversation about the relative advantages of mustard-covered borscht over the regular kind. He didn't know what was wrong with Rei but it wasn't something his non-superhero self could fix. Whatever it was had started bothering him the day after they'd arrived at Robert's castle and had cast a shadow over Rei's normally impossibly bright golden eyes.

So instead he chose to distract Rei. Maybe it wouldn't help the hurt but at least it would give Rei a break from brooding about it. Dwelling on problems never helped anyone. Max knew all about that.

"Max! You're grossing him out! Why do you insist on putting mustard on everything, anyway?"

Max turned and poked his tongue out at Tyson, a cheeky grin on his face. "Like you could comment on gross, Tyson," he retorted, "How many layers are on that sandwich, anyway?"

Tyson paused in lifting a many-layered monstrosity to his mouth. He grinned wolfishly as he mentally calculated, "Six... I think."

"_Six?_" Rei laughed, eying the sandwich, "You've got no right to be calling Max gross, dude. That's..." He shook his head disbelievingly. He had no words for the rest of that sentence.

"It's physically impossible for you to fit that into your mouth," Kenny piped up, one hand typing on his computer while the other picked at a considerably smaller sandwich in front of him. He lost interest in the conversation almost immediately, turning back to his computer and typing furiously.

"That's sounds like a challenge to me!" Tyson replied, a grin on his face as he contemplated his sandwich monstrosity.

Max made a face and looked away as Tyson tried to unhinge his jaw. "Why do we hang out with him?" he asked Rei, smirking as Tyson began coughing. Evidently, sandwiches _couldn't_ be inhaled. Shocking.

Rei shook his head, an amused expression on his face. "If you'd asked me before I saw that I might have been able to give you an answer. Now— I just don't know," he said seriously, ignoring the glare Tyson sent in his direction.

"_Guys! _When I'm choking to death the least you could do is try to help me!"

Max and Rei looked at each other before simultaneously shrugging.

"Self inflicted," Rei said solemnly.

"Not our issue," Max joined.

"When you're choking and it's _not _because you've done something stupid _then_ you can come to us for help."

Tyson scowled and returned to his sandwich, grumbling about ungrateful l friends and mumbling about how they wouldn't even be on this train without Tyson's excellence and brilliance in all things.

Max grinned and tucked into his borscht. If he was completely honest, he might have admitted that putting so much mustard in it before he had really tasted it probably hadn't been a wise decision. But Max had never been one to back down from a challenge.

Which was why, when he saw Rei's eyes grow distant again, despite lacking any kind of super powers, he once again attempted to catch his attention.

"I think trains were put on this earth to torture us and remind us exactly how far we're travelling by making us pay for every excruciating second."

Rei frowned as he looked at the blonde. "And what makes you think that?"

Max grinned. Mission accomplished. "Well back in the days when dinosaurs were likely to eat you at any given moment all people could do was walk, right? And, because that gets old pretty fast, that meant that people didn't really travel that far."

"Either that or they simply travelled for weeks at a time," Rei corrected. "But go on, please"

Max stuck his tongue out at Rei. "I'm talking casual travel. Not 'I'm migrating and will probably never see my birthplace again' travel. _Anyway,_" He settled back into his chair,"as I was saying, once people gave up walking and found horses they could travel a bit further and faster. But... horses have limits too. So people were forced to have breaks."

"Uh huh." Rei said, starting to lose interest, "and how is giving me a history of travel going to help you explain why you think trains are evil?"

"I prefer the term 'torture devices created by the devil himself' but... evil works too... I guess." Max shrugged. "Okay, Grumblebutt. We'll fast forward a ways to cars and planes. Cars are brilliant _but_ once again they rely on human endurance. There's only so long you can drive before you crash and die in a fiery accident."

"Pleasant."

Max ignored him, "Now, planes. Planes let you travel incredible distances in comparatively short times. Twenty hours on a plane can get you almost anywhere in the world. If you can imagine it, a plane can take you there. They're amazing machines."

"And trains?" Rei asked, sensing that Max was _finally_ getting to his point.

"Trains don't rely on human endurance. There's a driver, sure, but they're interchangeable. So you can stay travelling for _hours_ and _hours _without a break. You can move faster than if you were walking but it still takes you _forever_ to get anywhere. I mean— over twenty hours between Berlin and Moscow? Seriously? Trains are the devil's play thing."

"What about boats?"

Max groaned, "Don't even get me started on the topic of boats. Those things are in a league of their own. A league of unspeakable evil."

Rei smiled and relaxed into the seat, looking at Max with a quirked eyebrow, "so what's with the travel trivia anyway? It sounds like you've spent a lot of time thinking about it."

Max looked away for a second before shrugging. "Not really. Just spent a lot of time travelling between my parents when I was younger. Thankfully, I mostly managed to avoid trains."

"But not enough to avoid forming some deep-set hatred."

Max grinned, "You only really have to go on one long train trip before you realise how terrible they are."

Tyson let out a contented sigh, making Max and Rei both look at him, startled. They had forgotten he was there. "You guys done?" he asked, rested a hand on his stomach. "Only— the kitchen staff are giving us meaningful looks."

Max looked over his shoulder where one woman behind the counter was staring at Tyson with a mixture of fear and awe while babbling in Russian to a taller man in chef's whites. "It looks like if we don't leave now we're not going to have much choice in the matter."

"Guess we better go then..."

As they stood to leave the dining cart, Max purposefully hung back, letting Tyson and Kenny walk ahead of him. He caught Rei by the shoulder as he tried to get past.

Rei looked at him quizzically.

"Whatever's going on, smile," Max said quietly. "You've been worrying about it for days and it hasn't helped. Sometimes it's just better to admit defeat and say that you don't have the answers. There's no point fretting about a problem you can't solve."

Rei frowned before his face slowly relaxed. "...thanks." He said eventually, shrugging off Max's hand and turning to follow Tyson and Kenny.

Max smiled when he saw the tension easing from Rei's stance.

Sometime being a superhero didn't require any special powers. Still, superpowers would be nice. Especially super speed. Max sighed as he settled back into his seat across from Kai, who had fallen into a light sleep. Without super speed it was going to be a long trip.

-o-

Tyson threw himself into his seat with a loud sigh. He was bored. He hated travelling for this very reason. Now that they'd visited the dining car there was literally nothing to do for the next... actually, he didn't want to think about how long they had left of their trip. Too traumatic.

Tyson didn't really handle doing nothing that well. He needed to be doing something. He needed to be moving. Not sitting still and waiting for the train to make its ponderous way across Russia.

Who had decided that rail was the best way to go anyway? It was probably Kai. Kai and his sick, sadistic need to torture Tyson in any way he could think of. Kai who had fallen asleep and would probably stay asleep for the rest of the trip, laughing in the face of Tyson's boredom.

If Kai knew how to laugh, that is. Tyson sometimes seriously doubted that.

Tyson tapped his foot absently on the ground, keeping time to a song he had heard in the dining car that was now firmly stuck in his head. He hated it when that happened. And it only ever happened with songs that he only knew one or two lines to so those lines would just repeat endlessly in his head.

He looked around the compartment, looking for any kind of distraction. Rei had pulled out a book and had curled up on his seat beside Kai, Kenny was still busy on his computer doing... _something_. Tyson had never even tried to understand what Kenny did. To him it was all just mumbo-jumbo. Useful mumbo-jumbo, mind you. But not anything Tyson could even hope to grasp. Max was playing some kind of game.

"If you keep tapping that foot I'm going to take it."

Tyson looked up, startled, at Kai who was busy training his best death glare on him. "Me?" Tyson asked.

"Do you see anyone else tapping their foot like an idiot and waking me up?" Kai asked, annoyance and sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Of course you."

Tyson deliberately tapped his foot again, sensing that his boredom was about to disappear. He loved taunting Kai. It was like Kai had never had a younger sibling or, at least, had never had to deal with other kids when he was a child. He couldn't spot a trap to save his life. He always walked right into them,

"_Tyson_"

"Yes, Kai?" Tyson asked sweetly, tapping his foot a few more times. "What is it?"

"Tyson, stop messing with Kai. It's not nice," Max said absently, stabbing viciously at the screen of his game.

Tyson ignored him.

Max was so absorbed in his game that he missed Kai's glare transfer for a few seconds on to him before shifting back to Tyson. "Stop. Tapping. Your. Goddamned. Foot," He bit out.

Tyson tapped his foot. "Like this?" He asked, tapping his foot a few times.

"Yes. Like that."

"Why?"

"Because you woke me up."

"But now you're awake why can't I keep doing it?" Tap.

"Because I said so."

"I'm sorry, when did you become my father?" Tap tap.

"I'm your captain. What I say goes. And I'm saying that if you don't stop I'm not only going to pull off your foot with my bare hands I'm then going to deprive you of food for the rest of this trip."

Tyson gasped, all thoughts of annoying Kai instantly gone. "You _wouldn't_"

"And I would _enjoy_ it," Kai assured him with a smirk.

"Cold-hearted bastard."

"You expected something different?" Kai asked, folding his arms. "Now sit there and shut up. We've still got nineteen hours to go."

Tyson sighed loudly and pouted. Even Kai had only provided brief entertainment. And now that he'd worked out that food-deprivation threats were an option, Tyson couldn't annoy him for the rest of the trip.

Tyson stared hopelessly at the blurry countryside they were racing past. The World Championships were going to be amazing. He knew that. But without even annoying Kai as a pastime it was going to be a long trip.

-o-

Kenny tapped the keyboard contentedly, losing himself in the electric glare of the computer. He didn't really care how long it would take them to get to Russia. He had work to do.

In fact, looking at the pile of work that had been piling up since they'd began their adventure,for him the trip wasn't going to be nearly long enough.

* * *

Please tell me what you think.

Also, for serious this time, go check out the **Beyblade Community Project.** Doo eet.

And if I could get someone to swear at me until I finish off my BryBrook NaNo fic that I've been studiously ignoring since the end of November? Or at least come up with some really creative insults? That would be awesome.


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